I know you know your NBA history and you are correct that both those guys were effective physical defenders in the era of hand-checks. But I saw both those guys play and I firmly believe that Curry would beat both of them most of the time. The guy is really quick and needs a sliver of space to get his shot off. If any thing Steph would have suffered on the defensive side given his size.
I agree. Steph is playing at a Jordan-esque level at this point where holding him to 25 points and 35 percent shooting from three is really good job.
Payton on Curry would be an interesting matchup. I think DJ wouldn't have the quickness to keep up with Curry, he'd have to just grab and hold on all the time.
How would the 86 Celtics get away with playing two traditional bigs against Golden State? DeAndre Jordan, Dwight Howard, and even Anthony Davis are all bigs that Golden State has exploited defensively when their teams asked them to switch onto Curry in the pick and roll. That first round series last year proved Anthony Davis isn't quick enough to handle that responsibility. You think McHale and Parish stand a chance? And when Parish is jumping out on Curry who is McHale guarding? Iguodala or Barnes on the perimeter? Golden State makes it almost impossible for teams to play a single traditional big; the answer to beating them certainly isn't two traditional bigs.
Bowen didn't match up with PG's because rarely do PG's throw up 40 on a regular basis......he defended the most offensive minded wing. It wouldn't have made any sense for Bowen to defend a distributor while Tony Parker was in a mismatch.
The 86 Celtics would score virtually every trip at the other end, however---it's a classic size vs mobility matchup. Would GS hit enough threes to make up for an overall lower shooting percentage?
McHale--in 1986--is a better, more mobile defender than Anthony Davis? Seriously?
What I said is that he was better for switching to a small jump shooter on the perimeter; he's not better overall, I don't believe. For the specific point I made, while I am a gigantic Anthony Davis fan, he weighs 30+ pounds more and essentially has never been asked to defend the wing. McHale did that regularly early in his career, largely because Celtics didn't want Bird doing it too much. And McHale had freakish arms, which helps for this situation. Easy to forget because he's so awkward looking and it was a long time ago, but McHale was a beast defensively...he made 7 all defensive teams.
I know McHale's a strong defender, and carried the burden for Bird. But the league's hugely different now. Wings are far more athletic, and the pick and roll's designed to create space for quick, athletic players. The notion that either McHale or Parrish has a better chance of stopping Curry on switches than any of a number of current NBA bigs feels like wishful thinking.
Agree with most of this, except for the suggestion that there is a dearth of big men. I do not think the world is producing fewer 7 foot-ish individuals with the requisite athleticism and skill to play in the League. I think Ibaka, Drummond, Towns, Davis, Cousins and (time will tell) Porzingis represent a crop of promising bigs. What has changed is that league has less/no room for large, plodding bigs with limited skills. The Joe Kleines and Perkins of the world are not playing for 15 years anymore.
Funny how you say this as Perkins is in his 13th year and still playing. You still have offensive 5's capable of dominating offensively in the paint.....and they are young 5's so yes, there is a need for opponents to have matchups available for these guys. Brook Lopez, Monroe, Cousins, Pekovic, Okafor, Vucevic, Drummond, Valenciunas, Whiteside, Kanter, etc. Due to these young players guys like Biyumbo, Mahinmi, Plumlee, Robin Lopez, and others have every opportunity to make a shit ton of money for a long long time.
Sort of agree; I think the model of the post-playing big man has changed, and thus there are fewer of the true post players (which makes playing a motion-oriented, pace-and-space approach more interesting). Guys who have 7 foot size obviously are no less numerous now, but how those guys develop is different, too...Towns would (I believe) play more in the post if he came up 15 years ago; Cousins would never leave the post.
There are a ton of great players out there but good teams are hard to find. It's like AAU now.
Too many guys are playing for themselves. Wins and loses aren't as important. Lots of tanking teams and bad coaches. Overall lack of cohesion from team to team which is why the Celtics look so good in comparison- they don't have a ton of talent but they (usually) play hard and organized.
Sure, last year. Last few years. Just count the 50 win teams. This year the league is on track for 2 in the east, maybe 4 in the west. That's a bad league.
And your contention, is that this year, unlike last year, we have more "guys playing for themselves", less emphasis on wins and losses, and a "lack of cohesion from team to team"?
You're kidding, right? Who exactly do you want to spend cap space on if not Durant?
They get to jump right back into the fire tonight at 10:30 EST on TNT @ Golden State.
You mean the fourth quarter:
Aren't his hands kinda tied though? You can't run motion when you don't have players with skillsets to play this way and I'm not speaking of Durant/Westbrook but of the complimentary players such as Waiters, Roberson, Adams, etc. The problem I see is defensively and in their lack of depth as this team continually blow 4th quarter leads before Durant and Westbrook can return to the game for the stretch run.
At worst he gets an Incomplete. Presti's failed to find 3 guys to play with Durant and Westbrook, and that's not Donovan's fault.
